Chan is the best skater this quad. Takahashi taking silver is also a step up from Vancouver and will then have 2 Olympic medals. Joubert, Abbott and Verner will be majorly vindicated by placing well at Sochi and both Abbott and Verner would continue to skate well at Worlds before they retire.

Pairs

Gold: S&S
Silver: V&T
Bronze: P&T

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The only thing missing from S&S is the OGM. V&T can wait four years. And how amazing would it be if P&T still medalled at Sochi?

Dance

Gold: D&W
Silver: V&M

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It's just the same as Asada / Kim.

Team event

Gold: Canada
Silver: US
Bronze: France

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This way V&M still gets a OGM, Wagner and Abbott get Olympic medals, and Joubert also gets his Olympic medal.

This overall scenario can make a lot of people happy [and not altogether totally unlikely].

I'd like to see S&S win the Pairs also, but they've been at the top for so long that it's difficult to keep that momentum going. Most likely V&T will win Worlds this year, and I think that's a good thing, since it'll put all the pressure on the Russians in Sochi.

Men, maybe Fernandez can pull off the upset of all upset. Joubert for the dark horse to take the bronze.

However, the Games are always a disappointment for me in the case of results. Many of my all-time favourite skaters have never won an Olympic medal, let alone gold. And then 90% of the ones I root for to win gold, end up with silver or bronze.

Asada deserves this honour. Kim already has it. Kostner deserves an Olympic medal for her improvements and excellence in this quad.

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If I were a karmic judge holding court in Nirvana (not the band of which Courtney Love was a camp follower), I would certainly give your thoughtful comments due consideration.

But as a mortal whose role is to watch these events unfold in real life, the concept of this thread brings to mind a couple of lines from one of my favorite movies, Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven":

Sherriff Little Bill (wheezing on the floor with a shotgun to his head): "I don't deserve this...to die like this!"
Varmint William Munny (as he squints before pulling the trigger): "Deserve's got nothing to do with it".

and

Nearsighted Aspiring Assassin Kid (downing whiskey from the bottle and whimpering after his first kill): "Well, I guess he had it comin'..."
Varmint William Munny (as he squints into the distance): "We all got it comin', kid."

If I were a karmic judge holding court in Nirvana (not the band of which Courtney Love was a camp follower), I would certainly give your thoughtful comments due consideration.

But as a mortal whose role is to watch these events unfold in real life, the concept of this thread brings to mind a couple of lines from one of my favorite movies, Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven":

Sherriff Little Bill (wheezing on the floor with a shotgun to his head): "I don't deserve this...to die like this!"
Varmint William Munny (as he squints before pulling the trigger): "Deserve's got nothing to do with it".

and

Nearsighted Aspiring Assassin Kid (downing whiskey from the bottle and whimpering after his first kill): "Well, I guess he had it comin'..."
Varmint William Munny (as he squints into the distance): "We all got it comin', kid."

That about sums up the thrill and the tragedy of skating, for me.

Click to expand...

I think the problem is that people don't treat an Olympic medal as just such, as a thing you get for winning one competition. People treat it as a result of a 4-year-long work and feel the OGM should go to whoever did the best during the entire olympic cycle. To whoever DESERVES it the most.

I for one always feel for athletes who do great their entire career but just happen to blow it at the Olympics. People remember Olympic champions so much more than World champions. It's like Olympic champions do something better than World champions, while at the end of the day, they just win one competition, they happen to be the best on ONE day (well, two in the case of skaters). Then they get credit for 4 freaking YEARS.

Seriously, sometimes I hate the Olympic Games. For making some athletes look smaller than the others while in reality they are not. And the most painful thing is to hear athletes say they would give up their numerous world/european/other medals for one Olympic medal.

Chan is the best skater this quad. Takahashi taking silver is also a step up from Vancouver and will then have 2 Olympic medals. Joubert, Abbott and Verner will be majorly vindicated by placing well at Sochi and both Abbott and Verner would continue to skate well at Worlds before they retire.

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I am, truly, not attempting to start a train wreck, but...you honestly think they're going to put Abbott on an Olympic team? They didn't even send him to Worlds this year and they could have justified bumping Ross if they REALLY wanted to. That seems...somewhat optimistic. Unless you're assuming that was a warning and he'll miraculously pull it together. (Personally I think they're tired of giving him chances and the writing's on the wall--they're looking at the younger men and thinking more about 2018.)

I don't follow Ladies enough to have an opinion, I expect Chan will win Men's (and since none of the Americans I like are likely to be anywhere near gold, I'm good with that), don't follow pairs enough to have any idea who is likely or deserving, and with dance, I will be equally happy with Davis/White or Virtue/Moir, with a SLIGHT edge to Davis/White. Team would be nice for USA.

My ideal results would be both Justus Strid and Anita Madsen qualifying for the Olympics and getting to skater their short and long program!

otherwise I have such a hard time figuring out which lady I want to win. For men Takahashi, dance D/W, pairs S/S. But there are so many skaters I like that whoever skates great should win, of course. I will not be sad

Ladies:
If Kim is able not only to get back to her 2010 shape but to improve (toe point, spins, expressivity) then it would be exciting to see a historic repeat OGM for her. Similarly if Mao can conquer her UR demons, pull off the 3A again, and skate commandingly I would love to see her win or place. However I hate the idea that Yu Na and Mao are bound to take the top two spots. There are some great talents coming up who might just be able to peak in a year, and Carolina and Akiko are late-blooming marvels. Personally I am praying for a miraculous comeback by Mirai. So... my dream podium for the moment is Kostner, Sotnikova and Asada in any order but who knows how things will look next fall?

Men:
Takahashi
Reynolds
Abbott
(I am deep into REM dreams here....)

Dance:
D/W
C/L
Shibs... I know, I know....
(I haven't gotten V/M for a while and their behavior at 4Cs did not endear them to me.)

Pairs:
Another discipline where it seems two teams have a boring lock on gold and silver regardless of how they skate. In my dreams, there is an upset, but I do give the edge to veterans because of the "two skating as one" factor.
K/S pulling a win out of their a** as Debi Thomas recently put it (referring to herself)... I know, another miracle will be needed here, but when these two are on, they are the most magical pair today, IMO, judges and Russian Fed be damned.
S/S for the silver
P/T conquering age and injury to grab the bronze.

(I haven't gotten V/M for a while and their behavior at 4Cs did not endear them to me.)

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I know I'll regret this, but - what behavior ? Tessa Virtue having a leg cramp and not being able to continue right away, them continuing anyway after a few minutes, Scott Moir wishing for some privacy at this difficult moment, and not explaining to everyone then and there, or judges not penalizing them (most likely because the referee stopped the music before Scott Moir asked him to)? Because that "breather" theory is absurd and ridiculous and plausible only to people who are strangers to logic (sorry, but that's how I think). How could a team of Virtue/Moir level think that they could win with stopping in the middle of the dance (which always influences PCSs - more, or less), especially after they were first (although only by little) at SD, and were skating just fine and smoother than at any of their previous international competitions until the interruption? A ridiculous and absurd thought, once again, and terribly disrespectful to hard working skaters. Yes, it's the people who think and say this who are disrespectful towards them, not Virtue and Moir.

If I were a karmic judge holding court in Nirvana (not the band of which Courtney Love was a camp follower), I would certainly give your thoughtful comments due consideration.

But as a mortal whose role is to watch these events unfold in real life, the concept of this thread brings to mind a couple of lines from one of my favorite movies, Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven":

Sherriff Little Bill (wheezing on the floor with a shotgun to his head): "I don't deserve this...to die like this!"
Varmint William Munny (as he squints before pulling the trigger): "Deserve's got nothing to do with it".

and

Nearsighted Aspiring Assassin Kid (downing whiskey from the bottle and whimpering after his first kill): "Well, I guess he had it comin'..."
Varmint William Munny (as he squints into the distance): "We all got it comin', kid."

That about sums up the thrill and the tragedy of skating, for me.

Click to expand...

Haha, great quotes from one of my all-time favorite movies!!! Reading your post made me want to watch the movie again

I know I'll regret this, but - what behavior ? Tessa Virtue having a leg cramp and not being able to continue right away, them continuing anyway after a few minutes, Scott Moir wishing for some privacy at this difficult moment, and not explaining to everyone then and there, or judges not penalizing them (most likely because the referee stopped the music before Scott Moir asked him to)? Because that "breather" theory is absurd and ridiculous and plausible only to people who are strangers to logic (sorry, but that's how I think). How could a team of Virtue/Moir level think that they could win with stopping in the middle of the dance (which always influences PCSs - more, or less), especially after they were first (although only by little) at SD, and were skating just fine and smoother than at any of their previous international competitions until the interruption? A ridiculous and absurd thought, once again, and terribly disrespectful to hard working skaters. Yes, it's the people who think and say this who are disrespectful towards them, not Virtue and Moir.

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i wonder what would happen if we treated all injured dancers like we treat v/m

Well if I'm dreaming, my podium picks would have Canadians at the top in each and every discipline and if we have a second team, they are on the podium too for silver or bronze sooooooooooooo my delerioius dreaming would look like
Men:
Gold - Chan
Silver - Reynolds
Bronze - Fernandez (cause I decided to adopt him and have deemed him an honourary Canuck)

OK, once I wake up and reality hits, my choices would be different. Well at least a couple of my gold would remain, and even a few of my other podium picks might be close to reality. It was fun while it lasted. Thanks for allowing me to dream ...

On another note ...
I am having to say I agree with rainbowkisses and lauravvv on the constant questioning and harping on the "behavior" of V/M. I wonder how many of the V/M naysayers will admit that V/M have pissed on their cornflakes and that nothing they say/do will ever make it better; unless they lose every competition from here on. They must be one helluva team if they can inspire this much innuendo and dislike/hatred by some on this board. The great ones ALWAYS do.